I was curious about this same thing until I handled some Barber and Walking Liberty Halves that a friend had. I think even if you got the faces flat, the clad coins would not handle the same as the older silver coins. They just felt different.

If you'd like to try it, I read a suggestion somewhere that you use a whetting stone (a sharpening type stone) and rub the coin on the stone in a figure 8 motion. I guess if you just rub it back and forth in a line, one side of the face of the coin will be higher then the other versus a more flat surface with a figure 8.

Ebay sometimes has a good deals on coins. Half dollars won't work for what you want though. I think, like Dave said, Walking Liberty's would work. They can be a little expensive, but worth it in the end.

Try the Coin Shops in your area, sometimes they have buckets of old worn Coins you can rummage through.

Thats how I get my silver halves, and walking liberties. I buy some of the really beat up ones cheap, and I use a buffing wheel on a bench grinder to polish them. In about three minutes, I have an old beat up coin looking beautiful !

There is no way for coins not to make a sound. I have been collecting coins for about as long as I have been doing magic, so yeah. You need to improve your slight of hand. No matter how warn a coin is it will still make sound.

I think the problem with Kennedy Halves is that they weren't circulated enough to show much wear.
Merchants and Retailers rarely gave them out as change to put them back into recirculation ... for the most part they were hoarded and sent back to the banks.

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